Hum by Verizon

Driving Awareness Through Motorsports

In 2015, Verizon launched a new product called Hum that provides an after-market solution to turn any car into a smart car. In an effort to increase brand awareness of the new Hum product, Verizon ran a Hum-dedicated paint scheme with Team Penske in the Verizon IndyCar Series in May of 2016. Additional paint schemes in 2016 coincided with experiential displays at various race tracks.

To assist in the fulfillment of these objectives, CSM pitched a social media plan including a video content series to Hum by Verizon in order to get additional reach through its IndyCar sponsorship.

The social media plan included acquiring photography assets during each race weekend where Hum by Verizon was the primary sponsor of Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet. CSM then provided Hum’s brand agency with photography assets and suggested social media copy for the brand to post during those eight race weekends where Hum was the primary sponsor on the car.

With the theme, “Hum Gets You Where You’re Going,” the video content series (titled Hum Ridealong) featured Josef Newgarden taking five members of his crew out to lunch and discussing topics from favorite road trips to best INDYCAR circuit to visit. The overall goal was to create original content for the Hum by Verizon brand channels, using their sponsorship assets, that would drive engagement and product awareness.

Overall results for the social campaigns came in high above benchmarks and normal results for Hum by Verizon’s social media channels.

Sponsorship content created average impressions for Twitter that were 3x the average monthly benchmark. Engagement rates for sponsorship content on Twitter were 25x higher than the brand benchmark.

On Facebook, the video series content increased average impressions by 7x and engagements by 25 times.